Wagon-gate construction



G. w. AND 0. E. eoss.

WAGON GATE CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26,1920.

i qzggeg, PatentedJu1y18,1922..

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

. AND C. E. (5088.

WAGON GATE CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26.1920.

Patented July 18, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

GEORGE W. GOES AND CHARLES E. GOSS, OF BALTIMORE, OHIO.

WAGON-GATE CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent Patented July-18, 1922.

Application filed July 26, 1920. Serial No. 389,047.

lowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in wa on bodies, and hasparticular reference to an improved end gate construction for suchbodies, the object of the invention being to provide a wagon body with aremovable end gate wherein is provided a swinging door structure, saiddoor structure being capable of being rigidly secured in a bodyclosing'position in connection with the gate, and to also be capable ofbeing selectively oscillated from spaced seats of upper and lowerpivots, whereby the door structure may be lowered to conform with thebottom of the wagon body so as to be employed as a shoveling board, ormay be'released at its bottom and permitted to swing from its topfulcrums in order to act in the capacity of a dump gate when the bodyassumes an inclined position.

With these and other objects in view, as will appear as the descriptionproceeds, the invention accordingly consists in the novel features ofconstruction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts,hereinafter to be fully described and pointed out in the claims hereuntoappended.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and-1n which similar characters of reference denote like and correspondingparts Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved end gateconstruction for wagon bodies comprising the present invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken through the endgate and. disclosing in the dotted lines itsvarious positions ofadjustment.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary enlarged front elevation of the lower fulcrumfor the door structure.

Figure 4: is a detail perfulcrum, and, v

Figure 5 is vertical sectional view displan view of the upclosing aslightly modified construction for furnishing a fulcrum for the doorstructure.

Referring more particularly to the details of theinvention, the letter Adesignates a wagon body of any suitable standard coni cesses 14. It willbe manifest found upon farm wagons, but is preferably of theconstruction disclosed in our co-pending application Serial Number399,046, filing date July 26, 1920. In this instance, however, the bodyconsists of a bottom 1, underlying cross beams 2, and longitudinallyextending sills 3, all of which may be suitably assembled in rigidrelation. The bottom 1 carries side sections 1, which are maintained inplace by virtue of rigid side bars 5, the latter being connected withthe protruding ends of the crossbeams 2.- These bars may have their withmetal plates 6 which, in conjunction with. the sections 4; providesockets for the lower ends of the bars 7 provided upon removable uppersections 8.

The present invention consists particularly in the provision of animproved end gate construction 9 which is adapted to be employed for thepurpose of closing the rear end of the wagon body A. In this instance,the end gate is formed to include a pair of sides 10 and 11, which arecapable of rest ing upon the upper surface of the bottom 1 and withinthe side sections 4. The sides 10 and 11 are preferably formed from aplurality of boards, which are united by means of spaced cleats 12 and bvertically extending frame bars 13. j a

The frame bars 13 are disposed contigu ous to the inner edges of thesides 10 and 11, and the lower ends of these bars project materiallybelow the sides 10 and 11 and are positioned within recesses 14 formedin the bottom 1 and also in a filling block 15, which extends parallelwith and is secured to the cross beam 2. To hold the frame bars in thisposition, the filling block is provided with pivoted keeper plates 16,which may be moved to positions transversely obstructing the recesses14c, so that lateral or longitudinal movement on the part of the endgate construction Wlll under or equipped with manually adjustable nuts19 which act to maintain the keeper plates in their active positionsobstructing the rethat by loosening the nuts 19, the plates 16 may berotated so as to be independentof the recesses 14.,

thereby permitting of the removal or withdrawal longitudinally of theend gate construction from its connection with the bottom 1.

To also hold the end gate construction in its operative position ofapplication within ti o wagon body, the cleats 12 are provided with aplurality of pivoted bolts 20, which are so arranged that their threadedshanks may be positioned within the notched ends of the plates 6 carriedby the bars 5 and 7. These bolts also are adapted to carry wing nuts ortheir equivalents 21, whereby when the bolts are positioned inengagement with the plate 6, the nuts 21 may be tight ened so thatendwise movement of the gate will be precluded. In view of the foregoingit will be apparent that quickly adjustable means have been provided forfirmly fastening the end gate construction in its seated position withinthe rear end of the body A, and that said means will effectively serveto prevent the gate from accidentally losing its position ofapplication.

' In connection with the end gate construction, there is included a.door structure 22, whichmay be opened or closed independently of the endgate construction for governing the discharge or emoval of the contentsof the wagon body. This door structure consists of a rectangular bodywhich is adapted to be positioned between the frame bars 13 and to restupon the bottom 1 in order to normally close the outside space 23 formedbetween the sides 10 and 11. Since the edges of the door structureengage with the bottom 1, and the inner edges of the sides 10 and 11,unoue inward movement on the part of the door structure will beprevented, and, lateral movement is likewise precluded by the fact thatthe door structure is positioned between the vertically extending framebars 13. To control the outward movement of the door structure, theintermediate portions of the frame bars are provided with U shaped clipswithin which are positioned the outturned ends of a. pair of hingedstraps 26, which are secured as at 27 to the structure 22. The clips 24;are pivotally mounted for transverse movement upon bolts 28, whichproject longitudinally from, the bars 13, and the outer ends of thesebolts are equipped with wing nuts 29 which serve to friotiona-lly engagethe ends of the clips 24 in order to prevent undue lateral movement onthe part thereof. It will therefore be seen that by the provision of theclip and strap construction 24 and 26, means have been provided foreffecting the pivoting of the lower end of the door structure.

The upper edge of the door structure is provided with a flattransversely extending strip 30, which terminates in threadedextremities 31, which extremities are normally received within the slotsformed between the bifurcated ends 32 of a pair of metal clips 33rigidly carried by the upper ends of the frame bars 13. The threadedextremities 31 of the strip are adapted to receive wing nuts or theirequivalents 34- which by being tightened into engagement with the sidesof the clips 33, will prevent the door structure from moving outwardly.lit will be observed that the ends of the clips are turned laterally sothat when the nuts 3% are tightened, the hubs of the nuts will bepositioned in engagement with the out-turned ends, thus effectivelypreventing the door structure from moving or swinging out- Wardly.

When it is desired to employ the door structure as a shoveling board,the same is lowered to the dotted line position indicated by the letterB in Figure 2. This is accomplished by loosening the nuts 3i so that thesame are clear of the lateral ends of the clips 33, which allow the doorstructure to pivot about the lower pivot provided by the clips 2%, andthe downward swinging movement of the door structure may be curtailed bythe provision of a pair of chains 35, which have their upper endssecured as at 36 to the frame bars 13, and their outer ends providedwith hooks 37, which may be engaged with the threaded ends 31 of thestrips 30. N hen the door structure is in this position, the same may beconveniently used in the capacity of a shoveling board for the purposeof facilitating the discharge of the materials or articles positionedwithin the body A. When the wagon is tilted, its contents may be discharged by loosening the nuts 29, which permits the clips 21 to beoscillated about the bolts 28, thereby clearing the ends of the straps26. This permits the door structure to swing from its upper pivotsafforded by the strip 30 and the clips 33 so that the dotted lineposition, indicated in Figure 2 by the letter C may be reached.

In view of the foregoing description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, it will be apparent that an end gate constructionof considerable utility for wagon bodies has been provided and onewherein features of construction are em ployed which will facilitate thedischarge of the contents of a wagon body. By the constructiondescribed, the end gate may be removed bodily and as a unit from itsposition if used within the end of a wagon body, or the door structureitself may be independently removed without disturbing the side frames10 and 11 of the end gate con struction. Then, again, the door structureis capable of assuming the various positions of adjustment set forth,that is, the same may be selectively actuated, so as to be moved abouteither its upper or lower pivots to effect the functions described. Itwill be apparent that the invention is not limited in utility to theprecise mechanical construction described, since other equivalent features may also be employed without departing from the spirit of theinvention. For example, in Figure 5, one of the frame bars 13 has beenshown as provided with a notch 38, in which may be received the end 25of one of the hinge straps 26. The end 25 may be then prevented frommoving laterally by providing a pivoted keeper plate 39, which may bemoved to cover or obstruct the notch 38 so as to retain the hinge strapextremity therein. Obviously, this construction may be employed in lieuof the clip construction 24 described in the preferred form of theinvention. Also, similar departures may be made in the other metallicfixtures employed by the invention and such changes will still fallwithin the scope of the invention as the latter is pointed out in thefollowing claims.

IVhat is claimed is:

1. In a wagon body, an end gate construction for said body, including apair of side frames capable of being connected with said body, a doorstructure normally arranged to cover the space between said side frames,means for pivotally connecting said door structure contiguous to itsupper and lower edges with said side frames, whereby the door structuremay be selectively operated to swing from either its upper or loweredges, and means for holding the door structure normally againstswinging movement.

2. In a wagon body, an end gate construction comprising a pair of spacedside frames, a door structure normally disposed to occupy the spacebetween said side frames, a. pivotal connection between the upperportion of said door structure and said side frames, and a secondpivotal connection between the lower portion of said door structure andsaid side frames.

3. In a wagon body, an end gate construction comprising a pair of spacedside members, means for removably connecting said side members with saidwagon body, a door structure positioned between said side mem bers, apivotal connection between the upper edge of said door structure andsaid side members, and a second pivotal connection between the lowerportion of said door structure and said side members.

4. In a wagon body, an end gate constrnction comprising a pair of spacedside memhere, a door structure capable of being po-' bers, a doorstructure normally situated to cover the space between said sidemembers, a

pivotal connection between the upper portion of said side members andsaid door structure, a pivotal connection between the lower portion ofsaid door structure and said side members, and flexible means carried bysaid side members and cooperative with said upper pivotal connection tohold the door structure against movement when in a lowered position.

6. A wagon body, comprising a bottom, a cross beam positioned beneathsaid bottom, side sections carried by said bottom, a pair of sidemembers positioned in the rear end of said body between said sidesections, said side members being provided with vertically extendingframe bars arranged to be removably positioned within sockets providedin said bottom and said cross beam, fastening devices between said sidemembers and said side sections, fastening devices serving to retain saidframe bars within said sockets, and a pivoted gate structure situatedbetween said side members.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

GEORGE W. GOSS. CHARLES E. GOSS.

